Just weeks after launching the new medium-duty Titan XD pickup, Nissan is going to extremes with the Titan Warrior, a concept vehicle designed to demonstrate the capabilities of the full-size truck.
The maker describes the Warrior – which is making its debut at the 2016 North American International Auto Show – as “unapologetic, aggressive (and) athletic.” And they hint that it could serve as a model for a future version of the new Titan, along the lines of Ford’s familiar F-150 Raptor.
“Truck buyers have a seemingly insatiable appetite for more content and more unique offerings,” said José Muñoz, executive vice president, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and chairman, Nissan North America, Inc. “Even though our all-new 2016 TITAN XD just started arriving at Nissan dealers nationwide last month, we are already exploring new territory where Titan might go in the future.”
The Nissan Titan Warrior takes on a more menacing presence with its height raised nearly three inches, to 81.5 inches. That provides the room necessary to shod it with 37-inch off-road tires mounted on customer 18×9.5-inch machined aluminum alloy wheels.
The Warrior Concept’s width grows three inches per side, to 86.6 inches.
The truck also gets a new, long-travel suspension. Up front, the modifications include custom upper and lower control arms with performance ball joints, and racing-style coil-over shocks. In the rear, there are custom bypass reservoir shocks and adjusted-length prototype axles with a custom sway bar.
(New Nissan Titan XD to start at just over $40,000. For more, Click Here.)
And that’s where the fun began.
The goal was to give the Titan Warrior Concept a look of “modern armor,” a more machine-like, sharper-edged appearance. That meant revisions to the grille and headlamps, while front and rear fenders got more flaring than the current XD truck.
The hood gets new, functional vents to cool the Titan XD’s big diesel engine. Underneath, the front end is protected by a large front skid plate.
The Warrior Concept adopts new LED lighting, front and rear, with the headlamps meant to present a more “robotic feel.” The modified taillights, meanwhile, for a “T”, as in “Titan,” split by the tailgate. And a new, quad-tipped exhaust has been integrated into the rear bumper.
(Click Here for details about the 390-horsepower V8 available in the new Titan.)
To offset the changes, several steps have been taken to improve aerodynamics, including a carbon fiber rear cab spoiler, and another spoiler on the back of the bed.
“There’s a sense to the exterior design that the Titan Warrior Concept could drive right off the auto show stage and retrace the historic route of Nissan’s off-road racing victories in the Baja Peninsula,” said Muñoz. “And given the high-torque Cummins 5.0-liter V8 Turbo Diesel, extensive suspension modifications and Titan XD heavy-duty durability, it certainly could.”
Inside, that machined look is carried over with details with a chronograph-like feel. The Warrior Concept’s steering wheel, for example, has been milled from a single block of aluminum. Aerospace-class toggle switches add to the heavy-duty look, as do the auxiliary gauges on the center console. There are, meanwhile, hot-and-cold drink holders in the center console.
While there are no announced plans to produce the Titan Warrior Concept, Nissan is clearly looking at all its options. The Titan XD went on sale only a couple weeks ago, and the maker is getting ready to roll out a variety of other variants, including the standard-duty Titan which will be offered in three cab configurations, two frame sizes, five grade levels and with two different powertrain options.
(Nissan is betting on big sales gains with second-gen Titan. Click Here for more.)
This new Titan Warrior Concept gives an important signal to American truck enthusiasts that our vision for exploring new boundaries remains strong,” declared Muñoz.
